Analysis of business risk and predicting the likelihood of a business performing in the future are difficult tasks that are increasingly in demand by investors and business managers.
WO98/20438 discloses a needs analysis computer system which consists of a program providing questions with yes no answers, a program providing appropriate responses to the answers and means to select a degree of importance of each response the selections being stored in memory and an output of proposed actions being provided at the conclusion of the program. This program is suitable for small business assistance but does not predict future performance.
WO0011671 discloses a system of matching entrepeneurs with investors using a communication network and includes data to enable investors to assess the entrepeneur.
WO0034911 discloses a system for depicting the effect of business decisions on market value. The system classifies assets into tangible and intangible asset categories and models market value as a function of these categories.
WO0068861 discloses a benchmarking analysis system in which a benchmark provider receives appropriate data from number of suppliers and then the data is analyzed on a weighted basis keyed to the suppliers status in the industry and then compared to the industry averages. The supply of the data and the benchmark report at regular intervals aids business decision making.
WO0073945 discloses a method for making a loan based on an intangible asset such as intellectual property. This enables a lender to assess the value and liquidity of the intangible asset.
These recent developments do touch on the importance of intellectual capital but do not measure the performance of the process that produces intellectual capital. Innovation has come to be seen as essential to a business using its intellectual capital to develop new products, processes and designs to achieve growth in sales and achieve and maintain a high rate of return on investment [ROI]. The process of innovation and the key factors for successful innovation are becoming better understood but the implementation and management of innovation policies are difficult.
What is needed is a means of evaluating innovation performance so that progress can be tracked over time. Such a measure should not only be useful for managers wanting to benchmark and improve their performance but also for investors to use as a guide in comparing a company to its competitors and in predicting future earnings and ROI.
It is an object of this invention to provide a measure of innovation capability.